Tennis rackets for hands, with stick em and Velcro all over them, almost like Spiderman the way he just contorts and then ;SNIKT: somehow just snags it. Cant teach that stuff, God given all the way.

__________________How much you wanna make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains?... Yeah... Coach woulda put me in fourth quarter, we would've been state champions. No doubt. No doubt in my mind.

When we first drafted Hopkins, my initial reaction was that he'd have a better year than the best year that KW ever had.

Then, I thought that might be too aggressive and too hopeful. I mean, that's a 60 catch, 899 yard season. And to give him his credit, KW had 3 games in his career where he caught more than Hopkins did in this game. But KW never had more than 1 100+ yard game in a season and they were kinda few and far between.

When we first drafted Hopkins, my initial reaction was that he'd have a better year than the best year that KW ever had.

Then, I thought that might be too aggressive and too hopeful. I mean, that's a 60 catch, 899 yard season. And to give him his credit, KW had 3 games in his career where he caught more than Hopkins did in this game. But KW never had more than 1 100+ yard game in a season and they were kinda few and far between.

...
They knew and believed. They just never thought it would happen this fast.

Tommy Plumblee's first lasting memory of DeAndre Hopkins: The Texans rookie wide receiver is a quiet, skinny 10th-grader at D.W. Daniel High School in Central, S.C. Yet Hopkins is already rare and unique - a deep thinker with a wondering young mind matched only by oversized hands.

"People around the country are getting to see what we got to see on Friday nights," said Plumblee, a former Lions defensive coach and now the school's athletic director.

For the next two years, Jeff Scott heard about the Friday nights. But there was an even better Hopkins profile: a basketball artist who doubled as a defensive back/wide receiver and played just down the road from Clemson University.

"He was already a legend," said Scott, the Tigers' wide receivers coach.

After triple-extra large hands pulled down a 3-yard fade pass from quarterback Matt Schaub for a game-winning touchdown Sunday in the Texans' 30-24 overtime victory over the Titans at Reliant Stadium, Hopkins' 21-year-old name began to ring out in the NFL.

The same traits that awed his high school and college coaches - a highly athletic but graceful and contortable body; a small-town, down-home personality, rooted in familial pride and tragedy; a brain that never stops exploring and a work ethic to match - have become the foundation for looped highlight reels on "Monday Night Football," "SportsCenter" and the NFL Network.

The No. 27 overall pick of the 2013 draft has overcome a preseason concussion and the all-eyes-on-me pressure of lining up next to veteran wideout Andre Johnson, a likely Hall of Famer. After collecting a game-high 117 yards on seven receptions in just his second pro contest, Hopkins declared he can be better than Johnson - and he modestly and respectfully made the words make sense.

"We nicknamed him 'Superman' for a reason," said Randy Robinson, D.W. Daniel's football coach. "The joke around our coaching staff was he just had to go into the phone booth for the Texans."

Visionary on hardwood

The Lions didn't know who Hopkins was supposed to be when he arrived at D.W. Daniel.

Hopkins' first sports home was the hardwood. His long hands were built to dominate a basketball...

Top rookie NFL receiver so far. But just like Keenum, he isn't satisfied with his play.

Quote:

But the 21-year-old from Clemson remains his harshest critic.

“I give myself a two of out 10,” Hopkins said when asked to grade his performance through the bye.

Why the low mark?

“Because,” he said. “I could do a lot better.”

Hopkins is second in the NFL in receptions among rookies with 28 and is first in yards with 416. He also has two touchdown catches. Hopkins is the first player with his stat line through seven games since A.J. Green in 2011 and is the 14th player since 1960.

But those statistics didn’t change anything for the rookie.

“Numbers don’t reflect the wins that we have,” he said. “We got two wins, so I give myself a two out of 10.”

Being tough on himself is nothing new for the rookie. After the first preseason game, he was overly critical, saying he wasn’t where he wanted to be.

And that hasn’t changed during the season.

Hopkins, while sitting at his locker on Tuesday, the last day players had media availability, said he’s been replaying the third down play from early in the third quarter against the Chiefs in his head.

With the ball inside the 5-yard line, Case Keenum threw a fade to Hopkins in the end zone. The rookie went up for the ball, had it briefly, but cornerback Marcus Cooper knocked it away at the last second.

“Any ball I touch my hands on, I should catch it,” he said. “Good defense by the defender. My motto is if the ball touches my hands, I should catch it and I didn’t catch it.”

Top rookie NFL receiver so far. But just like Keenum, he isn't satisfied with his play.

Quote:

Hopkins is second in the NFL in receptions among rookies with 28 and is first in yards with 416. He also has two touchdown catches. Hopkins is the first player with his stat line through seven games since A.J. Green in 2011 and is the 14th player since 1960.

We haven't scratched the surface yet on DHop. Wait until we get a QB who knows how to "throw a receiver open". Add in some back shoulder passes. He's not going to be the best WR in the NFL, but he can be top 10 with a QB. He's made a lot of little mistakes, but still shining through pretty darn good.